Ways to Make Your Company Environmentally Friendly

By Bruno & Scarlet, December 14, 2015

More than 190 countries met in Paris as part of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November and December to discuss a new plan to control global greenhouse gas emissions. It begs the question: if the majority of the countries in the world are trying to work out a solution, then shouldn’t individual companies do something, too?

There are certainly many options to help, from massive renovation projects to an additional recycling bin, from the expensive to the cheap, and from the politically extreme to the conservatively logical. Even climate skeptics might agree with some ideas, if only for the monetary savings.

Here are a few tips that your company could implement:

The Big

Google has a large infrastructure and an entire web page – google.com/green – devoted to its environmentally friendly endeavors. It also has a lot of money.

Scrap the gas-guzzlers. Maintain a fleet of electric company cars.

The Moderate

Cars are the most direct connection to climate change for individuals because each gallon of gas contributes about 25 pounds of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. Encourage mass transit use among employees, perhaps with modest subsidies. Set up a car pool system.

Make offices and buildings air tight in order to keep the heat inside.

Program thermostats to eliminate excess usage.

Monitor electricity flow to find where most of it goes, then find ways to streamline it.

Upgrade old refrigerators and air conditioning units.

New LED light bulbs save 15 percent on electricity for the same amount of light.

Serve less meat in the company canteen. A pound of beef, given the long process for raising methane-producing animals, is responsible for 18 times the emissions of a pound of pasta.

The Small

Turn off the heat/air conditioning when conference rooms are empty.

Use power strips to limit unnecessary usage.

Create a recycling culture with signage and accessible bins.

Encourage company-wide participation in community projects and events, like Earth Day.

Fund local conservation efforts with company donations, like during holiday fund drives.

Make sure the last person turns off the lights.

Surely, there are more tips that are specific to your company. Establish a working group to brainstorm the topic.

How do we contribute?

HR Studio is a cloud-based, automated Human Resources administration tool designed for small and mid-sized businesses to not only eliminate the inefficiencies of manual processes, save time for HR administrators, and deliver better services to employees, but also to eliminate the environmental impact of using paper for all those processes. The production and use of paper contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emission and it has an overall negative environmental impact on air, water, and land quality. Limiting the use of paper in your HR department thus reduces your company’s overall carbon footprint. We would be proud to be part of it.